Mkts open weak, dips below 13k mark

New Delhi: The benchmark Sensex on Wednesday dipped below the 13k level after 174 points in early trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Tracking the weak global trends, the BSE on Wednesday witnessed selling by funds as well as retail investors.

The BSE-30 share index, Sensex, which had lost over 161 points in the previous trading sessions, fell by another 174.88 points at 12,949.44 in first five minutes of trading as most of the index-kitty shares were in the red with sizable losses.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, was down by 49.75 points at 3,770.20.

There was broad based selling in the market and the major losers in the opening trade were Infosys, Rel Comm, Satyam, ACC, Guj Ambuja, HCL, BHEL, Bharti, ITC and Hindalco.

However, Tata Consultancy was moderately up on favourable corporate reports.

Top gainers on the Sensex are Tata Steel at Rs 443.05 up 0.26 per cent, TCS at Rs 1,263.55 up 0.18 per cent and Dr Reddys Labs at Rs 682 up 0.09 per cent.

Top losers on the Sensex are Hero Honda at Rs 655 down 1.94 per cent, ICICI Bank at Rs 860.30 down 1.79 per cent and Satyam at Rs 464.90 down 1.56 per cent.

Index heavyweight Hindustan Lever was trading at Rs 196.75 down 0.38 per cent from its previous close of Rs 197.50.

Index heavyweight Reliance was trading at Rs 1,366.00 up 0.06 per cent from its previous close of Rs 1,365.20.

Tech major Infosys was trading at Rs 2,025.00 down 1.56 per cent from its previous close of Rs 2,057.00.

Cigarette major ITC was trading at Rs 141.60 down 0.7 per cent from its previous close of Rs 142.60.

Refinery major HPCL was trading at Rs 260.00 down 2.15 per cent from its previous close of Rs 265.70.

All Asian markets were lower on concerns over the rising crude oil prices, which crossed $64 a barrel.